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What Is Biblical Literacy?
We complain about it, write about it, claim it’s important or even critical, design programs to create it, but what is it? I don’t mean that none of us know what we mean when we say “biblically literate” or “biblically illiterate,” but do we all mean the same thing? I don’t think we do, and…
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Fences: Mending or Rending
The following is a sermon I presented at the Unitarian-Universalist Church of Pensacola on September 11,2005 and originally posted here on September 13, 2005. I’m reposting it because when I went to look for it, I found that the original post had somehow been truncated, and also because there is a one word at a…
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Experiencing the (Baptism of the) Holy Spirit
This is a topic where I tend to make just about everyone uncomfortable. Long time readers may recall a previous discussion of speaking in tongues, and my own experience of it. Those who expect me to be intellectually oriented and rational are uncomfortable with mystical experiences, and many who are comfortable with the mystical experiences…
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Family Time
Family time is a phrase that means many different things to each of us. The words recall memories and regrets. When I ask my children about family time, it shouldn’t be surprising that it is the time when their parents gave them undivided attention that they recall most vividly. Concerts, meets, and ball games are…
Introducing Jody Neufeld
I’ve occasionally posted copies of my wife’s devotionals or links to them, but she will not be a contributor to this blog. It’s still not really a “group blog” but I do have a couple of guests posting, and now my wife. Jody is the author of Daily Devotions of Ordinary People – Extraordinary God,…
Prepare, then Vote!
Since the Foley scandal broke I’ve read and heard a number of commentators talk about the danger of evangelical Christians staying home on election day. The suggestion is that especially the conservative “family values” voters will be so put off by the Foley scandal and the apparent lack of action by the leadership to deal…
Dr. Ray Neufeld Obituary
I’m appending my dad’s obituary to this post in its fully expanded version. Various papers published various portions. I greatly appreciate the expressions of sympathy and support from the comments here. I’m still in Niagara Falls until Saturday, though a good portion of my business happens on the internet so I’m back to working some….
Christian Carnival CXLIII Posted
Christian Carnival CXLIII has been posted at the Romans 15:4 project. It again looks like some fun stuff and as usual my submission was from my Participatory Bible Study Blog, but I will try to post links to some particular gems here. Thanks to Mick for an excellent carnival post!
Out of Town Again
I’m out of town again, this time unplanned. My father passed away early this morning, and I was just able to make it in time to be with him while he still could recognize me. The funeral will be on Tuesday, and I doubt I will be blogging much until then. I will certainly blog…
Ephesians 6:18: Always Pray in the Spirit
Today as I was driving I noticed a church sign with a message that went something like this: “As a child of God, prayer is like phoning home every day.” Perhaps I’m being too tense about it, but it seems to me that prayer is very much unlike phoning home every day. In fact, to…
Looking for Moral High Ground
I’ve been watching the Foley scandal in congress, though not as closely as I might. While Foley represented a portion of Florida, that portion is a long ways from the panhandle where I live. Our congressional race isn’t even close. At the same time moral standards are extremely important to me. I will tend to…
Christian Carnival CXLII Posted
Christian Carnival CXLII has been posted at Nerd Family. It looks like a pretty rich source of good posts. As usual, I’ll be posting some of my favorites here some time during the week before the next carnival. Thanks to Nerd Family for hosting and for an excellent post.
Christian Carnival CXLII Posted
Christian Carnival CXLII has been posted at Nerd Family. It looks like a pretty rich source of good posts. As usual, I’ll be posting some of my favorites over on Threads from Henry’s Web. Thanks to Nerd Family for hosting and for an excellent post.
Understanding and Acting
There are many on the right who complain whenever someone tries to understand evildoers, or to explain the reason for their actions. They assume, not always incorrectly, that the person who is explaining also intends to excuse, that finding a reason, other than that certain people are evil, must remove any justification for reprisal or…
Secondary Spirituality
When writing research papers students are frequently warned against using secondary sources. If one must use a secondary source, one must be certain that it’s reliable, and indicate the actual source. Scholars get in the habit of using primary sources as often as possible. But in spirituality, I notice that many people tend toward the…
Charisma Books Expo Reports
My wife Jody and I will be doing some reports and impressions from the Charisma Book Expo in Atlanta, September 27-30, 2006. I believe some readers of this blog will be interesting. The reports will be on our Energion Publications Announcements Blog, and in addition I will be reviewing some materials that I found at…
Gender Roles as Essential
Peter Kirk has written an excellent post about the essentials of the Christian faith. I’ll let you go to his blog for the many references he has used in his discussion, and the reason for this post at this moment. My reason for commenting on it is simply that Peter has highlighted a number of…
Maturity or Masculinity
OK, here is a good post on men in the church. I have nothing to add to it. Men, let’s read it and put it into practice. Hat tip: Lingamish.
God: Nice or Not?
One of my Old Testament professors once told me that he thought survey courses might better be left to the end of one’s program, that one could greatly benefit by a survey course after one had studied more deeply into the various elements. I agree, though I would suggest a starting survey and then a…
Denominational vs Non-Denominational
My wife and I have had several discussions recently about apportionments in the United Methodist Church. For those of you who are not Methodist, apportionments are funds paid by the local church to their conference or other higher authority to support the work of the broader church. Many of these funds go to administrative functions…
Gleaning from the Christian Carnival
A good start for blogging on my return after a few days out is to link to a few of the entries from the Christian Carnival CXLI that caught my attention. As always, I’d love to read and comment on more of these entries, but I don’t have time to essentially redo the carnival. Go…
Christian Carnival CXLI
This is just a bit late, because I was out of town. Christian Carnival CLI is now up at A Penitent Blogger. I will try to take a look through and highlight some posts that attract my attention before the next one is posted. You can expect to find some impressions from the Charisma Book…
Christian Carnival CXLI Posted
This is just a bit late, because I was out of town. Christian Carnival CLI is now up at A Penitent Blogger. Thanks to Penitens for a good job.
Out of Town – at Charisma Book Expo
I’ll be out of town at the Charisma Book Expo in Atlanta Georgia from today, September 26 through Monday October 2. I will be stopping by to check comments and so forth as I have time, but I don’t expect to make new entries. As the owner of a small and new business, Energion Publications,…
Out of Town – at Charisma Book Expo
I’ll be out of town at the Charisma Book Expo in Atlanta Georgia from today, September 26 through Monday October 2. I will be stopping by to check comments and so forth as I have time, but I don’t expect to make new entries. The Christian Blog Carnival should be posted tomorrow, and I do…
Distinguishing Ideology and Linguistic Differences
I located a post on Bible translations through the Methodist Blogs Weekly Roundup (for which I thank John the Methodist for his usual good job). The post is Ideology in Translations, but while I certainly believe ideology is involved in translations, I don’t see a battle of liberal vs conservative ideology here, and I also…
Finding Good Role Models for Girls in the Bible
A post by Peter Kirk over on Speaker of Truth, titled Deborah and a woman from Bethlehem, and some interesting comments made there suggests to me some more writing about my favorite topic: the SHARING stage of Bible study. (For an outline of my method, see The Participatory Study Method. Some of the foundation for…